Athabasca Oil Corp. reported strong test results in the Duvernay shale play in west-central Alberta, and AOC said a better understanding of the shale’s fracture characteristics has enabled the company to evolve its hydraulic fracturing techniques.
The Duvernay is about 3,000 m deep and is an interbedded quartz-shale source rock (OGJ, Nov. 5, 2012, p. 32).
AOC’s third Duvernay well, 02-34-62-20W5M at Kaybob West, flowed at a final test rate of more than 6 MMcfd along with 900 b/ of 50° gravity condensate at a steady 3,000 psig.
The 02-34 well is expected to come on stream during December upon completion of a pipeline tie-in to the Kaybob West plant, AOC said.
AOC’s second Duvernay well, 06-10-62-23W5M, was flow tested on two separate occasions.
Following its initial completion, the well sat for a 40-day “soak” period. On its second test, the well flowed at 5 MMcfd along with 450 b/d of 50° gravity condensate at 2,500 psig. The 06-10 well is expected to come on stream in mid December when the Saxon plant is commissioned, AOC said.
Earlier this year, AOC reported results on its first Duvernay horizontal well at Kaybob and also completed Montney and Nordegg multistage fractured horizontal wells at Kaybob in the Deep basin (OGJ Online, Feb. 7, 2012).
